A hot-rodded classic circuit that roars with huge amp-stack tones and old-school distortion.

The MXR Custom Badass '78 Distortion roars with huge amp stack tones and old-school distortion. MXR took a classic distortion circuit and hot-rodded it to deliver over-the-top, soaring leads and rich, saturated rhythms. With only three knobs, dialing in a badass tone is a cinch. Engage the CRUNCH button to boost the harmonic content of the distortion. Under the hood, this high-performance machine features top-notch circuitry and hardware meant for a lifetime of use.

I've never liked distortion pedals. They always sound artificial to me and I prefer overdrives. Having loved the TS9 Tubescreamer, I thought I'd try the new Ibanez Jet Driver which was described as...Read complete review

I've never liked distortion pedals. They always sound artificial to me and I prefer overdrives. Having loved the TS9 Tubescreamer, I thought I'd try the new Ibanez Jet Driver which was described as a more pwerful TS9 with way more output and more gain. I didn't really like it and returned it for the 78, having never played or heard it.

I was completely blown away.

The tone is magical. THE perfect classic rock/hard rock/bluesy rock sound. Everything from a light crunch to Zeppelin, ZZ Top, AC/DC and beyond. Falls just barely short of metal. The tone knob is really functional. 0 for mud, 10 for bright. Somewhere in-between is your perfect and extremely usable tone. Mine stays permenantly set at around 10:30. Warm but not muddy.

Lots of gain on tap, you'll get an acceptable classic chug but not metal. IF you're in a cover band and play like 1 Judas Priest tune, you can fake it for one song if you dime the gain. But you'll want to look elsewhere for metal.

Sounds great with all guitars, too. I have a LEs Paul Junior with a P-90, an SG standard with humbuckers, and a Tele. IT compliments all of them well with just slight adjustments.

The crunch button doesn't really add cruch, but color to your sound. It sounds just a little fuller when on, adding more lows and highs than mids. The slight eq boost also adds a minimal but noticeable amount of volume. Go demo it to hear what I mean. So far, I like it on when I have the gain turned up, but off when I have the gain turned down. I also prefer it off with the Tele. I wish it was possible to switch on and off with my foot. It really does change the sound of the pedal.

Overall, I love it. The 78 bridges the gap between overdrives and distortions. If you're like me and love the warmth of a good overdrive, but hate the fizz and shrill of *most* distortions, give this one a shot. It sounds more like an amp than a pedal.

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Most Liked Negative Review

78' Distortion not as versitle as Distortion III

I bought the MXR Distortion III at the same time as the 78' Distortion and thought this would win over the III.The goal of this pedal for me was seeking that Distortion that fits...Read complete review

I bought the MXR Distortion III at the same time as the 78' Distortion and thought this would win over the III.The goal of this pedal for me was seeking that Distortion that fits into the 78 era distortion and works well with the tone knobs on my strat and Gibson Les Paul. The M78 has a 'sound to it' that works if you like that era sound, but not very versatile in tone. I felt that my knobs on my guitar (tone, volume) didn't really make a difference in the pedal. As for the Dist III I felt i had a bit more control. the look of it is beautiful. the casing color is stunning red and really is nice on the pedal board but I like to close my eyes and know it feels right in the mix of my pedal setups. Overall it has a sound that works in most classic heavy distortion situations. A good pedal but I feel the MXR Dist III has more of an organic feel then the 78'd distortion.For the price difference, I would suggest a listen to the MXR Distortion III. But if you like the 78' distortion out of the box, then this pedal is for you.

This is a great pedal! It can be a little thin at times at times but if you're going for that 1960s-1980s blues based, classic hard rock style it's an awesome pedal. I interchange between this one and a Line 6 Uber Metal and sometimes the Uber Metal gives me some grief if I'm not using an adapter so I've had to rely on this pedal to get me through some heavier songs and it still ends up sounding decent. I use a tube amp too and try to keep my tone as warm as possible. If you're playing anything from Hendrix to Zeppelin to Judas Priest to early Van Halen to even Papa Roach and Foo Fighters this pedal sounds great and is easy to use. Like most gear you need to find your own sweet spot but it works and sounds like a dream.

Like all MXR effects pedals, the M78 is compact, rugged, well made and affordable. In addition, the M78 upholds MXR's reputation for good sound quality. This pedal nails the sound of classic rock and can go from a nice, smooth rhythm tone at lower gain settings to a maxed out JCM 800 when the gain knob is at or past 3:00. It is dynamic and responsive for a distortion pedal. The tone knob offers useable high frequency boost and cut options. The crunch switch is good for adding more volume and even harmonic content. Too bad this feature can't be activated via an additional footswitch.

Even if you are into more subtle, natural overdrive sounds, the M78 is a great way to compliment a high quality O.D. or booster, whether used independently or stacked.

This pedal probably won't appeal to metal heads, as there is not enough of a mid scoop or gain on tap for Metallica or Pantera covers. But, if your thing is classic mid to high gain Marshall stack tones, then look no further, my friend.

It's not an overdrive. It's not a fuzz. It's rough and raw, and by god, it sounds like the real deal! Play it through a tube amp really loud. It's the sound you've been looking for. And it's affordable.

I want to get right to the point, this pedal rocks!! It's super versatile to get multiple distortion tones from early 70s rock to the licks of Eddie V! You can produce a rich overdrive, and if you really want to feel it, crank up the distortion and you'll understand why it's ballsy.

How is this pedal not a 5 star? It is amazingly versatile. The tone knob actually does something on this one. The crunch button gives your distortion a whole new color. It is based on an original DS-1 circuit, but it has been modded to sound even better. This pedal is an incredible value!

I've never liked distortion pedals. They always sound artificial to me and I prefer overdrives. Having loved the TS9 Tubescreamer, I thought I'd try the new Ibanez Jet Driver which was described as a more pwerful TS9 with way more output and more gain. I didn't really like it and returned it for the 78, having never played or heard it.

I was completely blown away.

The tone is magical. THE perfect classic rock/hard rock/bluesy rock sound. Everything from a light crunch to Zeppelin, ZZ Top, AC/DC and beyond. Falls just barely short of metal. The tone knob is really functional. 0 for mud, 10 for bright. Somewhere in-between is your perfect and extremely usable tone. Mine stays permenantly set at around 10:30. Warm but not muddy.

Lots of gain on tap, you'll get an acceptable classic chug but not metal. IF you're in a cover band and play like 1 Judas Priest tune, you can fake it for one song if you dime the gain. But you'll want to look elsewhere for metal.

Sounds great with all guitars, too. I have a LEs Paul Junior with a P-90, an SG standard with humbuckers, and a Tele. IT compliments all of them well with just slight adjustments.

The crunch button doesn't really add cruch, but color to your sound. It sounds just a little fuller when on, adding more lows and highs than mids. The slight eq boost also adds a minimal but noticeable amount of volume. Go demo it to hear what I mean. So far, I like it on when I have the gain turned up, but off when I have the gain turned down. I also prefer it off with the Tele. I wish it was possible to switch on and off with my foot. It really does change the sound of the pedal.

Overall, I love it. The 78 bridges the gap between overdrives and distortions. If you're like me and love the warmth of a good overdrive, but hate the fizz and shrill of *most* distortions, give this one a shot. It sounds more like an amp than a pedal.

I bought it due to the price. Was thinking about a Wampler but times are tough in this economy. I wanted to ad in some other disortion besides what it get from my head. ( I get plenty too. It's a Krank Chadwick ) Overall I like it. It sounds good and thick. Kinda dark to my ears. And I like that. Not shrill or thin at all.